Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-07-29


fed with false hopes, they are e1asperated and
stung by every disappointment. Luxurious
and effeminate, they can bear no uneasinegs;
proud and presnmptuous, they can brook no
opposition; by nourishing dispositions, which
SO little suit this uncertain state, they have
infused double portion of bitterness into the
cup of woe; they have sharpened the edge of
that sword which is lifted up to smite them.
Strangers to all the temperate satisfactions of
good and pure mind; strangers to every
pleasure except what was seasoned by vice or
vanity, their adversely is to the last degree
disconsolate. Flourishing health and favor
able fortunes were two pillars on which they
rested. Shake either OF them and down falls
their whole edifce of hope and comfort Pros
trate and forlorn, they are left on the ground,
obliged to join with the man of Ephraim in
his abject lamentation, 'They have taken
away my gods which [ have made, and what
have I now?" But how different is the con-
dition of truly good man in those trying
situations of life. Religion had gradually
prepared his mind for all the events of this
inconstant state; it had instructed him in the
nature of true happiness; it had early weaned
him from the undue love of the world by dis
covering to him its vanity, and by setting
higher prospects in his view. Affections do
not attack him by surprise, and therefore do
not overwhelm him.
He was equipped for the storm as we'll as
the calm in this dubious navigation of life;
under those conditions he knew himself to be
brought hither that he was not to retain al
ways the enjoyment of what he loved; and
therefore he is not overcome by disappoint-
men. when that which is mortal dies; when
that which is mutable begins to change, and
that which he knew to be transient passes
away. All the principles which religion
teaches and all the habits which it forms are
favorable to strength of mind. From the
glare of prosperity good man can, without
detection, Withdraw into the shade, excluded
from the several advantages of the world; he
may be obliged to retreat into a narrow circle,
but within that circle he will find many COM
forts left. His mind is a kingdom to him
and he can still enjoy it. The world did not
bestow npon him all his enjoyments, and
therefore it is not in the power of the world,
by its most cruel attacks, to carry them all
away. The distresses of life are alleviated to
good men by reflection on their past conduct;
while by such reflections they are highly ag-
gravated to the bad During the gay and &C
tive periods of life sinners elude, in some
measure the force of conscience carried
round in the whirl of affairs and pleasures;
intent on continuance or eager in pursuit
they are sheltered by the cloud of trifes
which surrounds them from serious thoughts.
But conscience is too great power to remain
always suppressed. There is in every mans
life period when he shall be made to stand
forth as real object to his own view; and
when that period comes, woe to him who is
CALLED by the sight; in the dark and solitary
hour of distress, with mind hurt and sore
from recent wounds of fortune, how shall he
L. IL
disclosed to him in that humiliating light
under which guilt will necessarily present It,
There the recollection of the past becomes
dreadful. 1t exhibits to him a life thrown
away on vanities and follies, or consumed in
righteousness, and no station properly sup
I ported--no material duties fulfilled; crimes
| which once had been easily palliated, rise
before him in their native deformity. The
sense of guilt mixes itself with all that
has befallen him. He beholds, or he
thinks he beholds, the hand of the
God whom he hath offended, openly
stretched out against him. At a season when
a man stand most in need of support, how in
tolerable is the weight of this additional load
aggravating the depression of disease, disap-
pointment Or old age How miserable his
state who is condemned to endure at once the
pangs of guilt and the vexations of certainty.
. Never then allow yourselves to imagine that
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